Gloucester rock Ulster in big Round 2 upset

In what was the biggest upset of Round 2 of the Champions Cup, underdogs Gloucester took the game against Ulster at Kingsholm Stadium.

It was a see-saw battle with the momentum and lead changing several times. Gloucester drew first blood through a Louis Rees-Zammit try before Ulster hit back through Billy Burns.

The first of three penalty tries in the match was awarded after referee Alexandre Ruiz sent Rob Herring and Alan O’Connor to the sin bin.

Ironically, the Irishmen seemed to play some of their best rugby with 13 men on the field but began to fall behind Gloucester as the second half got underway. Mark Atkinson dotted down for the Cherry & Whites to give them 24-10 lead.

Things suddenly swung in Ulster’s favour as tries were awarded to Michael Lowry and John Cooney, thus giving Ulster a 10-point lead.

Gloucester inched closer with a penalty after Ethan McIlroy was given his marching orders after a deliberate knock-on.

Finally, after 85 absorbing minutes, Gloucester dealt the final blow, attacking out wide and letting youngster George Barton to cross the whitewash, thereby handing his side a victory which will be talked about for a long time to come.

“It was a good day,” said Gloucester head coach George Skivington. “There were lots of positives. I’m glad George came on and did what he did because I’ve talked about him a lot this week,” he added with a wry smile.

“I thought we started well, we built some nice pressure, we managed the game well.”

The sides will meet each other again in Round 3.